Russian Foreign Minister: Don't Forget Palestine
Russia has cautioned the international community not to forget the humanitarian challenges still unfolding in Gaza, Palestine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Zionist Israel with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Middle East is causing international attention to drift away from collective efforts to discuss Palestinian liberation.
“The Palestinian issue is very easily forgotten. Now everyone is talking about crises and conflicts in the Middle East, but they simply do not see Palestine anymore. Palestine is easily forgotten,” Lavrov said, as cited by Anadolu Agency on Monday (16 March 2026). Lavrov made these comments during a joint press conference with Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi in Moscow on Monday (16 March 2026).
The press conference took place following discussions between the two ministers on current issues and bilateral relations. Both discussed the possibility of Kenyan citizens serving as military members in Russia and addressed the conflict that has entered its third week in the Middle East following US-Zionist aggression against Tehran. Additionally, Lavrov and Mudavadi discussed the future of Palestinian independence.
Lavrov noted that the US-Zionist war against Iran is increasingly destabilising the situation in the Middle East. Arab Gulf nations are experiencing direct consequences from Iran’s retaliatory strikes and attacks against the US. Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, according to Lavrov, will also have ramifications. The conflict has expanded further with the creation of an additional battlefield between Zionist military forces and the armed faction Hezbollah at the Lebanon border.
Lavrov stated that all these situations will affect Palestine’s future prospects. The conflict between the US, Israel and Iran directly involves Arab nations that bear moral responsibility in ensuring Palestine’s future. However, no international party currently reminds the world of Palestine’s fate and future.
“I believe that everyone involved in this conflict, and perhaps most importantly the Arab nations, need to recognise their responsibility towards Palestine. And we (Russia) will always be ready to actively support approaches at the United Nations that have responsibly made decisions regarding Palestinian recognition,” Lavrov said.